A Look Inside Being An MMA Fan

Friday August 21, 2015– There are two things I cannot wait for, one: the zombie apocalypse and two: fight night. Fight nights happen more often, so I’ll address that. It begins a couple of months out. The fight announcement is made, media sources take different angles to hype the fight and capture your attention on a multitude of levels. Be it rivalries, gossip, prior injuries, whatever the reason, we are drawn to the headlines. Like a moth to flames. As the words spill across our screen we undoubtedly “pick a side” and that is who we ride for come hell or high water. Some of us banter on social media insulting the other sides’ opinion and hyping our sides’ fighter till they’re wearing shoes no one can fill. The talk about mma math comes up and how it’s unreliable (albeit interesting to think of) opinions on rounds, tkos, and submissions make its way through our conversations. Some keep their eyes on the odds for betting, some enjoy tapology, and some make personal bets. And if we are lucky enough, there are no injuries and no one needs replacement.

Then fight week is upon us, suddenly the months of buildup is at a head and all that is left is weigh-ins and then the big day. We hide away in our cubicles, in our trucks on construction sites and tune into any website we can find that is showing what the weigh-ins look like. Be it a smaller promotion, or a larger one, we need to know. Phew ok everyone made weight!

And now FIGHT DAY! We wake up with a different hitch in our get along and a “fuck whatever happens I’m seeing the fight tonight” attitude. Our menial work day passes by. Our family day was fun, but it isn’t fight night.

And then, it starts. Nothing else matters for 3-4 hours. Just the mat, the cage, the sides you have sworn your allegiance to and those God damn judges. Who you pray do not have a say in any of the fights you care about.

They enter the cage and it’s just two men or women for X amount of time battling it out to prove they are the best that night. And whether you care about all the fights or just 15 minutes of the evening its pure glory. The technique, whose stand up is better? The ground game, who’s grappling will prevail? And that one moment someone locks in a submission. Wait it’s not deep oh my god that was close. Holy hell, did you see that spinning back kick!? We watch the replay to see the impact and sweat fly off their torso. The adrenaline rush continues until that last moment. A victor is announced. We leap, yell and celebrate or break stuff as the announcer tells us what the outcome is. Then it’s all over. The feed cuts out, the network changes coverage and we are left waiting for our next fix.

We are mma fans we live breath and eat it all up, and we are the select few who get it. That it may be violent, it may be bloody but it’s a beautiful sport. The transitions, the submissions, stand and bang it out or get starched trying. We will watch replays we will read endless articles because we simply cannot get enough.

Then, another glorious day comes when we hear of the next battle that will come. Our addiction is fed and the beast is happy for now…